The gold stater (Egyptian: nfr-nb, "Nefer-nub", meaning "fine gold") was the first coin ever minted in ancient Egypt, around 360 BC during the reign of pharaoh Teos of the 30th Dynasty.

Gold stater of Nectanebo II: reverse with hieroglyphs nfr-nb

Under Teos

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Teos introduced the gold stater in order to pay salaries of Greek mercenaries who were at his service.

  • Gold stater with the same weight of a Persian daric (around 8.42 grams), with an owl on the left, modelled after the Athenian model, and a papyrus on the right.
  • Gold stater as a tetradrachm, with an owl on the left and an olive branch on the right, with the Demotic writing "Teos... Pharaoh".

Under Nectanebo II

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Teos' successor Nectanebo II kept this practice, though coining his personal gold staters.

  • Gold stater as a daric (about 8.42 grams), obverse with a prancing horse on the right,[1] reverse with the hieroglyphs nfr-nb.
  • Small gold stater (about 2.56 grams, diameter 14-15 mm), with a probable picture of a leaping gazelle. Its attribution to Nectanebo II, however, is not confirmed.

See also

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Sources

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  1. ^ Schulz, Seidel, 1998. Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, Editors, Regine Schulz, Matthias Seidel, Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne, English translation version. p. 370. (obverse, reverse) (hardcover, ISBN 3-89508-913-3)
  • Ernst Gölitzer, Entstehung und Entwicklung des alexandrinischen Münzwesens von 30 v. Chr. bis zum Ende der julisch-claudischen Dynastie. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-05-004089-0, p. 6.
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